1. Field
The invention relates generally to interactive video and more particularly to video operable with networked action resources.
2. Background
Purveyors of products generally wish to make information relating to their products available to prospective purchasers. It is particularly desirable to provide interactive information about a product. Interactive information allows a prospective purchaser to better receive desired information about a product, participate in interactive events respecting the product, and, of course, purchase the product. Typically interactive information also provided the added convenience to prospective purchasers of not having to transcribe access information in connection with product purchases.
At a minimum, however, purveyors of products frequently wish to make an image referencing their product present in a video production. It is frequently desired that the purveyor be able to select appropriate contexts in the video production for display of an image referencing their product in order develop or maintain the distinctive quality of the image referencing their product(s) and promote contextually-driven positive associations with their product(s). Both qualitative and quantitative factors are frequently contextually relevant. Conventionally, purveyors of products arrange with authors of a video production to include a xe2x80x9cproduct placementxe2x80x9d in the video production. However, conventional product placements are unable to support interactive behavior.
A related technique for providing interactive behavior in a video production is to display a locator for a networked resource in a video production as is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,666 issued to Portuesi. Techniques similar to this may not provide a desired level of consumer acceptance in practice. Display of a locator for a networked reference may unnecessarily clutter a viewer""s display. In addition, the locator may be unrecognizable by a viewer as being associated with any particular subject matter displayed on the viewer""s display because of the frequently lengthy and confusing syntax of uniform network resource locators. A variation of this technique is to use so-called xe2x80x9chot spots.xe2x80x9d However this, too, only provides active regions on a display and a viewer may need to consult the uniform network resource locator displayed when the hot spot is active which, again, are frequently lengthy and confusing to understand, and needlessly distracting. Rather it would be desirable to have a solution in which images easily recognizable by a viewer as referencing a product could be used.
Another conventional solution is to provide a video production dedicated to providing information about a product. This solution may be unsatisfactory for several reasons. First it may be excessively costly. Creation of the video production dedicated to providing information about a product requires all the costs incurred in producing any video production which will be far beyond the resources of many vendors. Furthermore, when as brief as a conventional commercial, it is of insufficient duration to support rich or involved interactive features which may be a necessity to effectively compete in the marketplace. Second, this solution is frequently deficient in reaching a wide audience of prospective purchasers. Typically, the audience of the video production dedicated to providing information about a product is limited to a small segment of the potential market for who the opportunity cost of viewing the dedicated video production is quite low. By contrast, video productions of primarily entertainment value can draw large audiences. Third, there is limited availability for commercially desirable broadcasting times for a video production dedicated to providing information about a product as the commercially desirable broadcasting times conventionally are reserved for video productions of primarily entertainment value. Using conventional interactive television techniques with the video production dedicated to providing information about a product cannot eliminate these drawbacks.
It is therefore desirable that a system and method exist that allows interactive product behavior to be provided to an image referencing a product in a video production, that provides purveyors with the flexibility to select contextually appropriate segments of a video production for interactive behavior, that operates with images referencing products and other symbols easily recognizable by a viewer, that is cost effective, and that operates with video productions of the type conventionally found in commercially desirable time slots.
In order to provide these and other desired features, the instant invention provides a method and system for providing action selections to an image referencing a product in a video production.
A method conforming with the invention may included, at least communicating a video production to a reproducing apparatus, the video production including, at least, a placement zone and a trigger zone at least partially coincident with the placement zone, wherein the trigger zone includes, at least, a trigger resource identifier, and wherein the placement zone includes, at least, an image referencing a product; communicating to the reproducing apparatus an indication that an action selection interface associated with the product is available in response to a request corresponding to the trigger; and communicating to the reproducing apparatus a characterization of the action selection interface, wherein the action selection interface comprises a selectable action. A conforming method may also further include, at least: receiving an indication of the selection of the selectable action; retrieving an action resource associated with the selectable action; and communicating the action resource to the reproducing apparatus. The action resource may be selected responsive to a profile of a user associated with the reproducing apparatus.
The video production may be provided in serval ways including, for example. communicated over a television network, distributed in a tangible medium, or transferred over a computer network.
The indication of the action selection interface may take many forms including, for example, a visual highlight. In some conforming methods, when the reproducing apparatus is coupled to a viewing device, the visual highlight is communicated to the viewing device only if the reproducing apparatus supports the action selection interface.
Selectable actions for use with a conforming method include for example, a product purchase action, a promotion participation action, or a information request action.
A method for creating a video production including a placement zone and a trigger zone and comprising an image referencing a product and having a selectable action available for communication to a reproducing apparatus according to the invention may include, at least: selecting a placement zone in a video production, the placement zone comprising an image referencing a product; selecting a trigger zone in the video production corresponding to the placement zone; embedding a reference in the trigger zone in said video production to an action selection interface, wherein when reproduced on compatible equipment and communicated to a display, a selectable action in the action selection interface is selectable by a viewer. The video production may include, at least, a first track including, at least, the trigger zone and a second track including, at least, the placment zone, wherein the first and second tracks are synchronized.
An apparatus with a processor, a memory, and an input-output system and configured for communication with a reproducing apparatus via a data network may also embody aspects of the invention. Programmed instructions may configure the apparatus to perform a method including at least receiving a request from a reproducing apparatus, said request corresponding to a trigger from a trigger zone in a video production communicated to the reproducing apparatus; determining whether an action selection interface associated with said request is available; and communicating a characterization of the action selection interface to the reproducing apparatus.
A system for providing action selections to an image referencing a product in a video production and operable for use with a reproducing apparatus configured for communication with a display, a data network, and a selection device may also conform to the invention. The system may include, at least, a video production communication device, that can communicate a video production comprising a placement zone and a trigger zone to the reproducing apparatus; and an action resource provider configured for communication with the reproducing apparatus via the data network, the action resource provider receiving a request from the reproducing apparatus corresponding to a trigger in the trigger zone of the video production, the action resource communicating a characterization of an action selection interface to the reproducing apparatus responsive to the request, the action selection interface comprising a selectable action. In such a system, the action resource provider may further receive a request from the reproducing apparatus corresponding to the selectable action; retrieve an action resource associated with the selectable action; and communicate an action resource associated with the selectable action to the reproducing apparatus.